


Overboss and Boss

by Leonheart8



Category: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade, Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, Fallout 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 08:44:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12503484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonheart8/pseuds/Leonheart8
Summary: Leon, the Sole Survivor, crawled out of a Vault 6 months ago. At first he didn't know what had happened. But as he started to travel, everything became much more apparent. The bombs had gone off. Everything was destroyed. This was his new home. For 6 months he traveled the Commonwealth, searching for answers. He came across the Brotherhood of Steel. He agreed with their motives, so he joined them. After a month, he decided to take some time off and track down a distress signal coming from a place called Nuka-World. Little did he know what he was getting himself into. As they traveled together, Gage starts to notice something or someone spying on them from different places. He soon finds out who it is and what they want.





	1. Tempus Finis

Leon had just gotten out of the Gauntlet. He was worn out and tired, and now he had to fight the Overboss of Nuka-World. Colter. He could tell this was going to be a long fight, and long it was. He didn’t have his weapons, as he decided to leave them with Danse, but he wasn’t in the arena with him, so all he had was a squirt gun called Thirst Zapper and a sword. He did however have a shit ton of stimpacks with him. He always made sure to have plenty of those. Having been in the military before the bombs went off, he knew just how important they were.  
The doors on both sides of the arena closed. He knew it was vitam aut mortem here. He had to make every hit count. The person who had given Leon the squirt gun was a raider named Gage. Gage wanted Leon to win this fight. Leon was immediately brought back to reality when he felt the ground start to rumble as Colter began to charge at him. He abruptly threw himself over a Cola-Car and shot Colter’s power armor with the Thirst Zapper. Its effect was immediate. His power armor had electricity shooting out of it. That meant that if it got wet, it’d have an effect that would pacify the field that would normally be impenetrable by normal means. Leon used this moment to rush forward and start hitting the armor with his sword. He managed to knock a few pieces off. But not enough to render him exposed. So he kept ducking behind cars and shooting water at Colter.  
Eventually, he had knocked all of Colter’s armor off. He took one single blow to chest, and he was dead. Leon was covered in blood. Everyone watching was either booing, shouting in confusion or cheering.

Leon walked up to the door on the other end where Colter came out of. He saw Gage in person. He was taken aback by his… Beauty as he would say. He knew he was a Raider, but something seemed off about him. Like he was a Raider, but also as if he didn’t like the place. Gage said something about being the new Overwatch or something. But Leon wasn’t listening. Instead he was staring at the beautiful raider standing before him. Watching his lips move. Looking into his eye. He had an eye patch covering the right eye. His hair cut left him with a strip of hair in the middle. He couldn’t tell how old he was, but that didn’t matter. Finally he started to listen to Gage, and then he heard his accent. All over again he was entranced by Gage.  
Gage seemed to notice the man standing before him was staring at him. In a way that he had not seen in a long time. For the time being, he cast it aside and not knowing how the man would react he lightly tapped his shoulder. Leon came back from wherever he was. Gage told Leon to follow him. After walking out of the Arena, Leon saw an entire new place. Its name was Nuka-World. It was a pre-war theme park. Leon had heard about it. He couldn’t remember everything about it but he had heard about for sure.  
After Gage had lead him to Fizztop Mountain, he had many questions. Like, how did an average wastelander make it through the Gauntlet? It almost seemed like he had training with the sort of things he was dealing with. Once they got up to the top, where the view was of the entrance to Nuka-World, Gage started by telling Leon that he is going to have to start getting to know the different gangs that resided in the park. Leon was taken aback by this, as he didn’t realize there were entire gangs here.  
After Gage described the three gangs to Leon, which Leon now knew the names of: The Disciples, The Operators and The Pack, he decided to ask Leon some questions about himself. Leon was happy to tell Gage about him.  
Gage asked him where he was from, how he got through the Gauntlet without a scratch, who he was and many other things. Leon told him that he was from a pre-war vault, Vault 111. He was in the military and had many years of experience with the things he dealt with in the Gauntlet. He was married before the bombs went off and she died while in the vault. He told Gage the whole story. 

“Well shit” was Gages response. 

Leon laughed a little, at Gages short response. He usually doesn’t tell many people the entire story, but when he does he gets one of two responses. Most people will start apologizing or giving him a hug or expressing their sorrow, or people say something similar to Gage, the only exception being, it’s filled with more emotion. But since Gage was a raider, he didn’t expect much. Like he thought before, he had a feeling about Gage, that he wasn’t your typical raider. That wasn’t always hopped up on chems or that he had no brains. He could tell right then and there that he was different. He was special. Leon knew in the back of his mind that he wasn’t interested in females, although he couldn’t recall any raiders that were in any relationships.  
Gage asked him who he was married to and Leon responded with,  
“My wife, Nora. We had been married for two years and we had a child named Shaun. The Institute kidnapped him and shot Nora in front of me. After that, I fell back into my cryogenic sleep, and here I am. I’ve been out of the Vault for about 6 months now.”

Gage was surprised that someone like him hadn’t found someone else yet. But then again, it’s hard to move on from something like that. Maybe one day, Leon would find someone, Gage was starting to like Leon, a little more than just, Boss and Overboss. But he couldn’t just tell Leon that. So he decided to wait. Well, he thought he could wait until Leon said this,

“Hey, Gage. Eyes up here.” 

Gage suddenly looked up and met Leon's gaze. For Christ's sake, the Vault Dweller was beautiful. He had a nice thick beard. He had such sharp eye-brows. Perfectly arched. His eyes were, a dark brown, but there was a hint of grey in them. He was perfect. Gage hadn’t felt this way in years. Leon’s gaze was a stare that looked as if he had just murdered someone. But, it was just the way he was looking at him. Once Leon leaned up again, he had a smile on his face and said, “I hope you weren’t distracted with my Pip-Boy.”

Gage then thought that Leon must’ve thought he was staring at his arm. But in all reality, Leon’s arms were pretty muscular. And he was indeed staring. Marveling the pre-war man before him. Thinking back to three years ago, when he found someone similar. Only, Gage was interested in the other man. He was in a relationship already, so he subtly told him that he liked guys. The other man’s name was *Stadius. He was perfectly fine with it. Stadius and Gage became great friends. They would travel together, go take out different marks. All sorts of things. But one day, his girlfriend broke up with him, and he was heartbroken. They had been together for years. They had been through so much. Stadius told Gage about how they met and of all the things that happened. Gage felt sorry for the poor guy. He was about to say “I could help you, if that’s ok with you”, but then he realized that Stadius knew he liked guys. So that might cause some issues. 

Instead he went with “Hey, I know this isn’t the best time, and this probably sounds really weird, but I can help you, possibly, if that’s ok with you.”  
Stadius looked up at Gage, as he was sitting down on the ledge of Fizztop Mountain. He was crying. Of course he was. He just lost one of the most important people in his life.  
Gage laughed a little, “Are you asking to help me feel better or to help me feel better?” He put emphasis on the last better as he knew that he could make Gage laugh a little in this situation. Gage blushed a little. 

“Woah, Gage did you just blush?” Stadius teased. Gage turned away, never blushing before like he was now. He stuttered, “I-I uh-“was all he could get out before he felt something laying against his legs.

He looked down and there was Stadius, leaning against his legs. He looked so peaceful. He could see his tears fall on to his cheek. He felt him exhale deeply. Gage bent down quickly, and wrapped his arms around Stadius. He pulled him into a loving hug. Gage had a strong grip, and when he had to he’d give someone a hug they wouldn’t forget. They sat there for what felt like an eternity. It had started raining. They both felt so comfortable there. Neither one of them wanting to move, until they heard the lift start to move below them. They both scrambled to get up and go over to the bar. Gage quickly grabbed a random bottle of alcohol. He struggled to open it and that’s when the life reached the top. Nisha, Mason, Mags and William walked off of the lift and into the bar area. 

That’s where the flashbacks ended.

 

Stadius had left some time after that. Although, Gage was sure that wherever he was, with whatever he was doing, that he was happy. Even though part of Gage missed him, a lot, he knew that he had to move on one day. Perhaps that day was today. Now that he thought about it, Stadius and Leon had some similar features, body build, eyes, hair. That was about it. He didn’t think about it much. After all, Stadius had left years ago. There were some days where Gage would think back to the bitter-sweet goodbye they had. They were on good terms when he left, but it was saddening. He looked back up at Leon, and for a second he thought he saw Stadius.  
“Stadius?” Gage murmured.  
Leon glanced at Gage, giving him a look of confusion.  
“Stadius? Who’s that? A friend? Comrade? Another fellow raider?” Gage had peaked Leon’s interests. Gage suddenly told Leon that they needed to go find some work to do. He started walking towards the lift, with tears threatening to come out. He shook his head to rid his mind of the memories. Too much had happened today, and he wasn’t willing to look weak in front of the new Overboss. He turned around and saw that Leon had found a picture frame.  
“Ah, shit…” Gage whispered. He had completely forgotten about the picture of him and Stadius, side by side. Gage knew he had a shit ton to explain. He didn’t want to, but he knew it was inevitable. He took a deep breath in. And then he exhaled only to see that Leon was elsewhere in the bar, having moved on form the photo. He felt relief. But also more sadness, but he quickly let it go and called Leon over to the lift. Leon walked over and got on the lift, but he thought he sensed someone’s sadness. He looked around and all he could see was Gage. But it can’t be Gage, he would never let anyone see him when he’s weak and vulnerable. So he just dismissed it as nothing. They went down the lift and once they reached the bottom, Gage asked him one thing. 

“Hey Leon, could we go somewhere for a little bit?”  
Leon was initially surprised at first, but then he thought that maybe he was going to give him some pointers. So he agreed.  
“Yeah of course Gage! Lead the way.”

So Gage started walking to the entrance of Nuka-World. In his mind, for some odd reason, he had already built up enough trust with Leon to show him where he and Stadius would sit after a long day’s work. Far away from Nuka-World. 

It was an old bunker, beneath the ground. It was under the foundation of an abandoned house. Gage made sure to see if anyone was around. He checked for several minutes and saw that no one was there. Leon was a bit confused but he could sense anxiety and excitement within Gage. When the door opened, Leon was assaulted with a cloud of dust. He put his hands in front of his face and tried his best not to breathe in the dust.  
Once the dust cloud had cleared, they made their way into the tunnel. It was only a few feet long but it led to another door, however this was a Vault door. Leon was far too familiar with it. He asked Gage, if this was a vault, to which Gage replied with no. 

Leon let out a relieved sigh. He had spent too much time in a vault, and he wasn’t really looking forward to going back into another one. Gage and Leon waited for the door to open up, and on the inside he was so ecstatic. But on the outside he was keeping a stoic look on his face, as he didn’t want to seem too suspicious.  
When the door had stopped moving, Leon gasped. The sight before him reminded him of before the war. It was a house that had no damage done to it. Everything was still standing perfectly tall. Nothing was in the slough of ruin that he had awoken to 6 months ago. The wall paper was still attached to the wall, and it was perfect. Or so Leon thought. He felt someone grab his arm, so he turned around to see who it was. Gage was holding his arm. He tuned in to what he was saying and it all made sense.

“Hey, Leon! Are you ok? Are you there?” Gage shouted. Leon woke up, realizing that he was dreaming. The house looked different. Everything was either broken or laying on the ground. Gage had his hands on Leon’s shoulders. He looked worried for a second. He must’ve noticed Leon come to his senses, because he let go and backed up a few steps. He quickly changed his facial expression to look a bit confused. Leon looked around and then looked at Gage. 

“Gage… What just happened? It felt like I was in a dream, but it felt super realistic.” Leon said, somewhat disoriented. Gage was just as confused as Leon. He didn’t have an answer for him. He only reached out and gave him a pat on the shoulder to make sure he was ok. Leon flinched at the contact, but he realized there was no reason to be afraid. Even after 200 years, he was still traumatized by the war he had fought. Of course he didn’t want to be reminded of that every day, so he taught himself how to not let his trauma show. He’d cut away parts of himself, certain emotions. Feeling weak, feeling helpless and that feeling of not knowing what to do in dire situations. He would occasionally feel them, but in the instant following the feeling, he would shake them away, as if they had never existed.

He put his hand on Gage’s hand. “I’m ok. Don’t worry.” Leon said, in a rather quiet voice that was foreign to Leon. Gage on the other hand, was completely convinced that something was wrong. He wanted so badly to ask him what was wrong, but at the same time, he didn’t want to pry too much into Leon’s personal matters. He never was one to go out of the way to do the something of the sort. That’s not the way of the Raiders. Even still, knowing that he had flinched at the contact concerned him a little bit. He decided to not worry about it now, and ask him when they got back to the base. 

Fighters of the Crystal. Within the Giant. Fighting Fate. War: Warrior Worth a Thousand. Servant of the Crystal. What Becomes of us.  
All songs that Leon was familiar with. From before the nukes went off. He looked at what Gage was talking about. He was holding a big bag. It had holes and it was fraying everywhere. Not too surprising. Mostly everything now was in bad shape. Leon took the bag, and it was heavier than it looked. Inside of it there were some items. Pictures, frames, books. He noticed something. They all had a little mark at the bottom. Almost like a cut. But it was a signature, “PG”. He didn’t know what it meant, but he could ask questions later. He carried the bag over to a couch that had definitely seen better days. He sat down and dumped a few things out of the bag. He picked up a stack of photos that had a rope around them. Gently, he unraveled the rope, trying his best to not ruin the photos. After a couple knots, he had all of the photos free. The first one was of Gage and Stadius. At that moment, Leon understood why Gage accidentally called him Stadius. They had similar features. He looked through a few more. One of them standing outside of the Arcade in Nuka-World. Another of them both passed out on the floor of the room that Stadius had owned, which now belonged to Leon. Passed out due to all of the work they must’ve done. He could relate to that. A third picture depicted Gage and Stadius walking out of the Arena. He figured they must’ve dealt with some people or person who had successfully made it through the Gauntlet. In his mind, he never liked the word ‘Gauntlet’ so he started calling it ‘Gaunt’.  
He looked up to ask Gage a question, but he wasn’t there. Instead he was standing over by the wall to his left.  
“How long has he been standing there?” Leon thought. Gage was facing the wall, looking at a frame that was hung up using some scrap metal. He carefully put down the pictures, and he quietly got up and stepped over the mess he had accidentally made. He made a mental note to clean this up after. He slowly walked towards Gage, being vigilant to the obstacles that lie on the ground. Once he reached him, he suddenly thought about what and how he was going to do this. One touch could be fatal. 

He slowly and as carefully as he could, raised his hand, and put it on Gage’s shoulder. Gage didn’t even flinch. Instead he coughed. Then he put one hand on the wall right next to the frame. After a couple seconds passed by, he took his other hand and rested it on Leon’s hand. He let one tear fall and that was his one mistake that he had made. The one mistake that caused Leon’s grip to tighten, and pull him back into his arms. They stood there like that, for what felt like an eternity. Gage, now crying even more, tried standing up, but all of the emotions he was feeling, were too much. His knees buckled underneath him and he fell to the ground, Leon right there, still holding him. Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out an extra bandanna that he had. He gave it to Gage to wipe his tears with. After five minutes had passed by, Gage’s body started to tense up again. Leon gave Gage a squeeze. A notion to ask Gage if he was going to be ok. Gage nodded his head and said yes, in a whisper like voice. Leon let Gage go and he got up first, just in case Gage had trouble standing up. He walked around Gage, and knelt down in front of him, because it didn’t seem like he was going to get up anytime soon. He put his hand under his chin and made him look at him. Eye to eye.  
“Gage, are you sure you are going to be ok? I won’t leave you like this.” Leon said in a much more worried, but calm voice. To which Gage responded with a simple yes. Leon moved his hand down to Gages and grabbed his, and pulled him up. Once he was up Leon cupped his face, and told him that everything was going to be ok, and then he wiped his tears away. He gave him another hug. He pulled away and he walked back to clean up the mess he had made. He picked up all of the pictures, and he told Gage that soon, he would find frames for them.

 

All that night they spent time cleaning the place up. This was going to be their new base of operations. This was their new home. Or rather their second home. Leon still had the Commonwealth as his true home, but this place was like a second home. In his mind he described it as that feeling that you get when you go somewhere that you’ve never been before, and then you just feel at home there. Like you never left where you came from. A feeling of comfort, nostalgia and happiness. He finally felt peaceful for the first time in 6 months. 

They had set up some chairs, a TV and the couch, which they had fixed. In the kitchen they still had some work to do. They had managed to clear the floor of debris and other stuff. Weapons, magazines, books, you name it. Once they got the floor cleaned, they started clearing the counter tops. They had lots of empty bags, so it was easy to get everything in one spot that was trash. This task took a little longer, as they had to make many trips outside and back in. They both decided that they would keep a lookout for dishes that had survived the explosion. They had 4 more rooms to clean, but they decided that what they had done that night was an incredible improvement. So they both decided to stay there and sleep the night. 

 

The next morning Gage woke up first. He looked around, slightly confused as to where he was, and then he remembered everything that had happened the night before. He got up careful not wake Leon who was below him. He carefully made his way over to the door, and at the last moment decided that opening the door, wasn’t the best idea. It would wake Leon. He walked into one of the rooms they still needed to clean. Inside, there was a safe, surrounded by tons of papers. 

“Do I really want to try and open this after all these years, it almost seems like breaking a promise, but I’ve never promised anything of the sort.” Gage said sadly, he knew not what was in the safe, but he knew of who put the things in there. Of course it was Stadius, everything that Gage knew had to have either come from him or Stadius. But, why was he feeling this way about a safe? It’s just a… a giant metal box. 

“Of course, this so called, giant metal box, could possibly have clues as to where Stadius went after he left that day. He did say he was going to come back here for a few hours. Agh, but he said he just wanted to pick some things up. That’s all, right? God, this is so frustrating!” Gage was about to yell, but then he realized that Leon was asleep. He didn’t want to wake him up, due to his internal frustrations. So he decided to wait, until he woke up to ask him for help. He decided to stay there and clean up that room until Leon woke up, which coincidentally happened to be right then and there.  
Leon rubbed his eyes, stretched and then got up. He looked around and couldn’t find Gage, so he walked in to the back part of the bunker, and he saw a door open, he peered inside to find Gage moving stuff around. He didn’t want to scare Gage by saying something, but Gage must’ve had great perception, because he said good morning without turning around.  
Leon jumped a little, he wasn’t expecting Gage to say something first. He walked in and knelt down next to his companion. 

“Good morning, Gage. How are you doing?” Leon said, somewhat slowly, yawning at the end. Gage laughed a little bit, noticing how tired Leon was.  
I’m doing pretty good. I was going to ask you how you were doing, but it looks like you’re about ready to fall asleep again. Why don’t we head back to Fizztop or wherever you want to go, eh Boss?”  
Leon nodded, and with that they packed all of their things and left. 

I didn’t take them very long to get back to Nuka-World. It was a reasonable distance from the bunker to Nuka-World, but by no means was it a long journey. They fought lots of creatures, alongside some crazy people. But this was nothing that the two of them couldn’t handle. They had handled the different gangs of raiders in the park. This was a stroll in the park. By the time they got back, everything was still the same. They went up to Fizztop Mountain and they both started working on separate things. 

In the back of Gage’s mind, he wanted to do something for Leon. After what had happened the day before, he had to do something. He wasn’t used to this kind of thing, but that didn’t deter him from doing something for him.

In the back of Leon’s mind, he wanted to find this, Stadius, and bring him back to Gage. They seemed to have a pretty good friendship. He wanted this for Gage because he saw a picture of the two, and he broke down. He had to find him. This would be perfect for him. He couldn’t afford to see Gage like this. But then he started to think, ‘what if he doesn’t want to see him again?’ Maybe it’s because they were so close and then he left, that it ended so abruptly…

“I’m thinking too much” Leon said, not realizing he was speaking out loud. Gage looked at him, due to the fact that he interrupted the silence that they had there. It didn’t bother him, but he wasn’t expecting it to happen. “What are you thinking about, if you don’t mind me asking, Boss?” Gage asked, with a hint of curiosity, but mostly, confusion. 

“N-nothing, Gage. Don’t worry.” Leon said, stammering. Now he had so many thoughts going through his head. What if he liked Stadius? What if he called Leon, Stadius, because he reminded him of the other man? Did that mean that Gage like Leon? Too many thoughts and he couldn’t ask them. It’s not that he couldn’t, it’s just that he didn’t want to make Gage feel like he had to answer all of these questions. He decided that tonight he would ask Gage about all of this stuff. 

Hours passed by, they both ate in silence, they worked in silence, aside from the occasional question like, ‘could you pass me that wrench or could you give me a hand with this?’ along other things. Tension started growing between them, but neither of the men were willing to bring it up. They were either too nervous or too uncomfortable. The problem would soon be brought to attention when Mason and Nisha both came up the lift and walked up to the two of them and told them that it was pretty quiet, especially since the both of them were there. Nisha and Mason could both tell that Leon and Gage had feelings for each other. However, they also knew that Gage still cared about Stadius, even though he had left years ago. Even they had developed feelings for him, while not romantic feelings, they took him in. They were always there for him if he needed their help. But after he left, they changed. 

They told the two men, that they felt something was off between them. Gage and Leon both looked at each other with confusion in their stares. Leon went over to the bar and got himself a drink. He brought Gage a drink as he could tell that he was just as confused. They all decided to go sit down at the bar, just so they could talk and not get tired of standing. Nisha had a plan on how to bring this up. She wanted to make Leon jealous of Stadius. That was her original plan, but the more she thought of the similarities between the two, the more it became harder to do so. So she had another plan that was much more her style. Being blunt and upfront.  
So she caught Mason’s attention with her finger, rapidly tapping the counter. Gage and Leon didn’t notice as they were both talking with each other, trying to figure out what the problem was. Mason cleared his throat, interrupting the two talking. They both looked over at Mason.

“We have something to tell you or rather, Nisha does. I’m here for support.” Mason said this as calm and kind as he could.  
Now Gage and Leon, we so confused to the point where they found the strongest thing to drink and they shared it. This was starting to become too much to process at this point. Nisha walked forward and grabbed Leon by the arm and dragged him to his room. While Mason started taking to Gage to prevent him from going after Nisha.  
Nisha locked the doors, and told Leon to go sit down and get ready for a very personal conversation.  
Once he sat down Nisha started talking, bringing up small stuff. Once Leon noticed that it wasn’t very personal, he spoke up. “I’m sorry to interrupt you Nisha… But none of this sounds all that personal. Forgive me if I’m wrong but-“Nisha stopped him right there. She clapped a few times.  
“Finally Leon, that took a little while, but you caught on. I’ve was waiting. Alright, so you know this is supposed- You know what? Im just going to do this my way. Leon, I know Gage has feelings for you and I know that you have feelings for him. Do you get the picture?”  
Leon looked at her, like she was crazy. But deep inside, he was confused. How was he going to respond? ‘Am I going to deny her, that I like Gage?’ 

“I guess I let myself become too close to him. Alright, I won’t deny that. I guess I do have feelings for him. But what about Stadius?” Leon asked.  
Nisha looked at him with a surprised look on her face. She had not known that Gage had told him about Stadius.  
She walked up to him and punched him the face and then kicked him to the ground.

“Don’t you dare ever mention him again!” Nisha yelled. It was at this moment that she looked up and saw Gage standing there. His eyes wide. Full of fear, hurt, betrayal and confusion. He ran towards Leon and threw his arms around him. To protect him. He looked up at Nisha, who now had Mason at her side. He had a look of shame on his face. As if he didn’t want this to happen. He could’ve prevented it. 

 

After the two gang leaders left. Gage helped Leon get on his feet, and helped him walk over to his bed. He was gently set down on the bed. Gage was checking Leon for any wounds or bruises. He was bleeding a little bit. His eyebrow must’ve split. He looked around frantically, and Leon grabbed his hand.

“Hey, Gage, I’m going to be fine. I’ve had worse. This is nothing, it’ll heal in no time.” Leon said this with such certainty that Gage stopped and just stared. How can he have so much confidence? Easy, these past 6 months have tempered him. They’ve shown him how to survive off of the things he finds. How to make friends and enemies. They’ve shown him how to be a better person and help those in need. 

He told Gage to stay by his side until he felt better. Gage was more than happy to stay with Leon.  
They told each other stories from their travels. How Leon jumped off the Prydwen. How Gage had survived a massive attack from some Commonwealth Raiders. So many stories. They knew more about each other than they had learned in an entire week. At some point or another, Leon must’ve started nodding off. Gage noticed and put a blanket over him. He started to get up, but at the last second, he knelt back down and gave him a little hug. He got up and walked over to a chair nearby. He carefully lifted it up and carried over to Leon’s bed. As quietly as he could he set it down and propped his feet up on the table next to the wall. He leaned over and hit a switch on the wall, dimming the lights. He laid his head back and closed his eyes, yearning for sleep to come to him.

Hours passed by and Gage had awoken with a start. He thought he heard someone talking, but it was only Leon talking in his sleep.  
“Gage….. I need… here with me.” Leon mumbled as he was fast asleep. Gage smiled a little and got up and walked over to the bed. He sat down and saw that Leon’s hand was moving, as if it were trying to grab something. He hesitated a little bit, but after contemplating the worst things that could happen, he went for it. He reached out his hand, and he let Leon’s hand feel it. It grabbed his own, and in that moment, Gage knew that Leon was hurting. In the morning, Gage would ask Leon if there was anything he wanted to talk about.  
For some reason, which Gage could not figure out, he found it oddly, relaxing and comforting.  
“I could almost fall asleep like this… I guess I should probably go sit back down- Huh?” Gage looked at their hands. He had tried to move away, but that seemed to only tighten Leon’s grip. He laughed a little. He was starting to get closer to Leon. He didn’t mind. Sleep came to him faster than it had in a long time. He didn’t try and fight it. He let it claim him, and he fell asleep.

 

When morning came, Leon woke up, only to find that Gage wasn’t in his chair. He tried sitting up, and then he felt resistance from his hand. There was Gage. Holding his hand. He was a bit confused a first, but then he decided to let him sleep. So he sat there, for a couple minutes, and then he felt Gage stir. He kept his hand there and waited for Gage to open his eyes. Once Gage looked around and then at his hand, he instantly started to blush. 

“I uh… About this Boss… I can explain.” Gage tried to throw something out there, but Leon’s gaze was far from angry or upset. In fact, it looked more like happiness or excitement.  
Leon got out of his bed and stood up, not once letting Gage’s hand go. He pulled Gage up, and grabbed his other hand and they looked at each other. Never looking away, trying to read the others thoughts. Leon pulled Gage in and kissed him. Gage stood there, frozen, not knowing what to do. He had never been kissed or kissed anybody before.  
He did have to admit, his lips were really soft. They felt really nice. It was an interesting feeling that he definitely wanted to experience again. Leon put his hands on Gage’s waist. Gage put his arms around Leon’s neck. The two stood there until they needed to take a breather. They both looked at each other. Both about to speak at the same time when Leon got an alert on his Pip-Boy, saying that Sanctuary Hills was under attack. Gage told him to get his things. He was going to help Leon. In any and every way possible. They went and got their weapons and supplies, and then they were off.  
Once they were back in the Commonwealth, Sanctuary Hills wasn’t far to the west, they rushed straight for it. Gage was following Leon, as this was his first time being there. Within minutes they were drawing near the settlement. They heard many gunshots. There were tons of Synths. Gage had seen them before. Robots, but so much more human like. They were also lots of settlers fighting. He noticed a strange group of people, and some robots that were fighting the synths, a dog with a bandanna and sunglasses on, and a Super Mutant. They were all protecting the settlers and fighting the Synths. Leon ran straight for them and started fighting with them, and he stood back and took them out from behind.

 

After what felt like hours of fighting, the last Synth finally ceased all functions and died. Gage looked around for Leon, and he found him a fair distance away, he was inside one of the houses. It looked like he was yelling, and it turns out he was. That big group of people were all arguing, and Gage wanted nothing more than to just go in and take Leon out, but he didn’t know any of them. So he didn’t know how that would turn out. He opted to stay out of it. He saw someone limping, struggling to get into their house. Now, Gage would help people, but, only if they let him. He hesitated for a moment and then he started walking near the settler. He realized he had his gun out, so he had two choices: drop his weapon or keep going and risk scaring the settler. 

So he decided to drop his weapon and call out to the settler. He walked up to him and asked him if he needed help. The settler responded with a simple but pained yes. He sat him down on a metal chair. He took a look at his leg and it had a laceration along the backside of it. He told him to take a deep breath in, and he did. Gage took two fingers and as quickly and gently as he could, entered the wound. There was a bullet, within his reach. The settler groaned in pain. Gage apologized for the pain and said it would be over soon.  
It was then that Leon had come out of the house and saw what was happening. He decided to not go over and see how things turned out. Gage was still prying around in the man’s leg when he felt something.  
“Hey, this is gonna hurt, and I’m really sorry, but we’ll get you patched up right after this, ok?” Gage asked with such sincerity. Leon felt a warm feeling inside of him, knowing that Gage was changing.  
Gage pulled a bullet out of the man’s leg and he let out a sort of scream. Gage stood up quickly and put his arm under the settlers arm to give him support. He thanked him and told him that if there was anything that he could do, he was always welcome to come to him. Gage nodded and they proceeded to walk into the house. Once they were in, Gage told the man his name, and he learned that the settlers name was Gladius. Gage froze, but then relaxed. He said he would go find Leon as he would know what to do next. He took his shirt off and he wrapped it around Gladius’s leg, to keep it from bleeding any more. He left the house only to find Leon standing by the door way. He looked at him and then down at his chest. He started blushing again. ‘Damn it, not again.’ He stood there feeling awkward when finally Leon gave him another shirt. He put it on and said thank you. He told him what happened and Leon went in to take care of the rest. Gage sat down for a minute to think about had just happened.  
“Have I gone soft? I mean yeah, he was hurt, but I’ve never been one to help people I don’t know. Maybe it was just a onetime thing. I should probably just let it go.” 

He fell asleep there, and he didn’t even notice. He was awoken by a dog laying down on him. He looked down and saw the same dog he had seen before. He let it stay for a while before getting up to go find Leon. It didn’t take long to find him. He was standing near a path behind a house. He walked over to him and he could hear Leon talking to himself. He didn’t want to scare him so he stepped on a branch that was on the ground. Leon turned around and sighed.  
“Oh, Gage it’s you! Kinda scared me, next time just say something. Anyways, there’s something that I wanted to show you. It’s very personal, and you’re the only one that I truly trust. I thought that I could let you into my past. If that’s ok with you?”

‘Leon of course! I will always be there for you, no matter what.” Gage reached out his hand and grabbed Leon’s. He stood there, giving comfort to Leon. Leon squeezed Gage’s hand showing him his thanks. Leon and Gage walked hand in hand up a hill. Once at the top Gage saw a cleared area with a patch of grass and a blanket over top. He was a little confused at first, but then Leon kept walking him over to the blankets. Once they got there, Leon wrapped his arms around Gage’s waist. He squeezed him, letting him know that he was there. To tell him to relax and let nothing come in between them. They sat down and Gage sat in Leon’s lap. They had never done the sort of thing before. It was a wonderful feeling. Gage looked back at Leon and they met each other’s gazes. And after a brief second, they kissed. But this time it was more passionate. Gage reached around and put his hand on the back of Leon’s head. They kissed for several minutes. After several minutes, Gage turned around. He faced Leon and put his head on Leon’s head. They stared for several seconds before Gage threw his arms around Leon and pulled him into a tight, compassionate, loving hug. 

“Leon, I love you.”  
“I love you too, very much Gage.” 

The two continued to embrace each other. This went on into the night. 

After they got tired they just lay there. Staring at the stars in the night sky. It was absolutely beautiful. The stars were so bright. Gage had never seen so many in his life and he was in awe. Spending time here with Leon was so much more than any words could describe. He was the happiest that he had been since Stadius left.  
Hand in hand, the two talked all night. About life, their pasts, their friends, and everything else in between. They cried, they laughed. Gage at one point cuddled up to Leon. Leon held him close and tight. Leon kissed Gage’s forehead, and told him that he loved him. Gage draped his arm off of Leon’s chest. He could feel his heart beat among other things. His chest, was impressive, as it felt hard and toned. He knew Leon worked out, but he had never felt it before. It was nice. He had abs that anyone would love to have. Not to show off, but to know that all that hard work had paid off in the end. His arms were huge, not much bigger than Gage’s but he had much more definition. 

Leon stretched and his lower stomach was exposed. Gage noticed a few black streaks coming from further up his chest. He reached out and Leon knew what he was going to ask.

“Yes, I have a tattoo. It’s of a Lion. Its name was Lionheart.” Was all that he said before he lifted his shirt up. Gage was met with an eyeful. Leon’s abs were much more toned than he had thought before. He gracefully grazed his hand over his abs. His fingers moving gently along the lines of the tattoo. Tracing them. He was amazed by it. 

“I really like it. It looks amazing.” Gage said, but with a hint of sadness.  
Leon picked up on it very quickly. “Gage? Something wrong?”

Stadius had a necklace of the same thing, and he had given it to Gage when he left. He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small black box that fit in the palm of his hand. 

“Here, uh… Open this. I think you might be surprised by what’s inside. I’ve had it for a couple years. I never gone anywhere without it on me.” Gage put the box in Leon’s hands and he nodded, as if to signal that he was ok. 

Slowly, he opened it. He saw a chain, but once he lifted it, he saw it; Lionheart. 

He quickly sat upright, and put the box on the blanket. He grabbed the chain by the hook, and let it fall to its maximum length. There was the pendant. That beautiful pendant. He ran his fingers over the edges. He still had his, but it was back in the Vault. Still around Nora’s neck. Of course she still had her wedding ring on. But, he hadn’t gone back there since he left. Why would he? He was scared and felt a sadness that was too much to bear, even at the thought of going back. He shed a tear without even knowing. Gage sat up too. He couldn’t leave his- Wait, what was he thinking? Are they a thing now? He could wait and ask questions later. He put his arms around Leon and pulled him close to him. He didn’t mean to hurt him. He pulled him even tighter to him and he could start to feel him calm down. After a couple minutes, he started to talk about why he was this way. The reasons why he had all of these emotions within him. Gage understood a lot of the things he talked about, he had been in a Vault, frozen, for 200 years. Gage gently gave Leon’s chest a squeeze every now and then to let him know that he was still listening. 

 

Once Leon had just about stopped talking, Gage told him to look up.  
He looked up and saw the most beautiful thing in his life. Aside from Gage, of course. What he was, a splendid show of lights. It was the Aurora Borealis. Leon had read all about them as a child. How beautiful they were to see in person. He was struck by how beautiful they were. Being here with Gage had made him feel so happy, and loved. 

Of course he had Danse… But, this- this was so much more. Danse had been there for him as his Commander. As his mentor. They both truly cared for each other. But Leon had no idea if Danse could reciprocate the feelings Leon had. So, he had decided to just let it go. Which he had a very hard time doing. After losing Nora, all he wanted was for someone else to be there for him. He thought that Danse, could be that someone. Eventually their contact started to become more and more seldom. They still talked, but it wasn’t as meaningful. Perhaps after the time away, they’d start talking more again.  
¬

He looked at Gage and just kissed him on the cheek. They sat there and watch the dancing lights in the night sky. The fluorescent green. The vermilion red. The azure blue. Blending together to make the most interesting and extravagant display of color.

 


	2. You had better take care of him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to get a little hectic with Leon and Gage. Gage meets some new people, but he also remembers old people from the past.

As they sat there oblivious to the three people walking up the hill behind them, they told each other how much they loved each other.

As the three people approached them, they froze. Thinking it was only Leon up here. Two of them backed up and started walking back to Sanctuary Hills. One of them remained there, and she decided to take her camera and take a picture of the two, with the lights in the sky. She decided to turn the flash off, as she didn’t want to disturb them, nor did she want to disrupt the natural lighting.

She took 5 pictures and started walking back to her house in the Hills. She started packing her bags to go to Diamond City to print the photos. She would later gift them to the two of them. Leon was going to be 201 years old.  

Once she had all of the things she needed she told Deacon and Curie where she was going. They both got equally excited and said that they would cover for her. She went over to Cait and asked if she would accompany her to give her some help on her little trek. Cait agreed and she ran to her house and grabbed a bag. They were eager to get this done and back to them. So they went off, over the half broken bridge, past the Red Rocket Gas Station, checking in on the settlers there. As the settlers gave them some medical supplies, they noticed how the Aurora was even brighter, and took that as a sign to keep on going. So they went on. Before they knew it, they were in the alley ways leading to the entrance of Diamond City. They wasted no time in walking through the gates. Once they had walked up the ramp into the stadium they immediately walked down the stairs and went over to Pipers house. They decided to stay the night and have dinner Pipers younger sister, Nat.

Meanwhile back in Sanctuary, Leon and Gage were still busy with each other, kissing and embracing each other. After a few minutes passed by, Leon broke their kiss and started laughing. Gage, slightly confused, looked at him. He was slightly concerned, but he hadn’t really heard Leon laugh all that much. ‘ _ I guess this is strange because I very rarely hear him laugh… That’s probably my fault, what with me telling him all of this stuff. He’s a busy man, he has other responsibilities aside form Nuka-World. Aside from me.’ _

He was brought back to reality with a flick to his forehead. He blinked a few times, and then his eyes focused on Leon. He gave a smile that showed sadness, but also happiness.

“You know, you’re pretty cute sometimes. Ok that’s a lie, you’re cute all the time. I’m lucky I have someone like you by my side, whenever I need you. I’ve missed having that kind of relationship. It’s a wonderful feeling that I can’t explain with words. I love you, Gage. I hope you know that.”

Upon hearing this Gage turned a shade of red, mimicking the Aurora. He put his hand on his head, to cover his now red cheeks. He was getting used to this happening, but he never was ready for when it did happen. He always smiled however, when he turned away. He had never really been called cute or anything of the sort before. He was always filled with a warm feeling that he couldn’t describe. He just felt so good when he heard Leon say those words. So, empowered. So much so that he could go out and take on the whole world, just to make sure Leon was safe. 

Once he had stopped blushing he turned back to face Leon. He kissed him. A kiss that said, ‘ _ I will never leave you behind. I’ll always be right by your side.’ _

“Wow, hiding from me while you’re blushing? That’s not very nice of you. I love it when you blush. It’s cute. It makes me happy.”

Hearing this, Gage looked at Leon and opened his mouth, trying to say so many things at once. Leon however, put his hand under Gage’s chin and closed his mouth for him, laughing while doing so. He told Gage that they could sleep there if he wanted to. Gage happily nodded yes. Leon pulled a rock- no, a crystal of some sort out of his pocket.

“This is called quartz. Hold it up to the lights.”

He handed it to Gage, and he did as he was told. It was beautiful. Wonderful. All of the colors were shining through it at different angles. Creating a small point in the middle where all three colors met. A small festival of color In the middle of a vast ocean of happiness. That’s what Gage made of this little crystal.  

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Leon said while rubbing his eyes. He was getting tired. Gage didn’t blame him, it had to have been at least 11 at night. Gage blinked once, and then twice noting how tired he was as well. He decided to lay down on Leon’s chest. He reached his hand out, and grabbed Leon’s, and he closed his eyes. The last thing he heard was Leon saying, “I love you Gage” before finally falling asleep. He fell into a deep sleep. Dreaming only of Leon hurting. He wanted so desperately to help him, but he was tied down to something. He couldn’t move. No matter how hard he tried to escape his bondage, nothing worked. The harder he fought it, the tighter the ropes got. He soon began to realize that fighting whatever was holding him down, was not going to give up. So he did something he hated doing, admitting defeat. Upon doing so, he was released from his bondage. He got up as quickly as he could, but the only thing, or  _ person  _ he saw standing in front of him, was not the person he had seen before.

Stadius was standing there before him. In his outstretched hands, was a giant ominous cloud of darkness.

Gage slowly stepped forward, being vigilant of the broken floorboards all around him. Stepping on one could be his last mistake. As he made his way to Stadius, he began to notice that there was a figure in his arms.

“Stadius, why- how are you here? What are you doing here? I thought you left?” Gage said with incredible disbelief. He was not aware that he was dreaming. Stadius walked up to him and said three words, “Please, help him.”

He woke up, sweating and panting. He looked around and looked for Leon, who was right behind him, on the ground.  He was mumbling something.

“Have to find… for Ga… As a gift…” Leon mumbled in his sleep. Gage knew that he talked in his sleep, but he never could figure out what it was he was talking about. He got up, carefully making sure not to wake Leon. Once he was standing, he stretched. His bones cracking in the process. First his shoulders, then his back, and finally his neck. Once he was done, he walked over to the ledge a few yards away. He sat down and looked up at the night sky. The Aurora was still there. It was 5 in the morning, and the sun was still out of sight. There was a cool breeze. He felt euphoric. When he had Stadius around, he always felt that way, but not that he was gone, he never felt that feeling anymore. But now he had Leon. He always felt good when around him, and he hoped that Leon felt the same way. He felt a tear run down his cheek, and he instantly put his hand to his cheek.

“Am I… Crying? I don’t feel sad or upset about anything.” He looked at his hands, and looked straight ahead of him. Not knowing what was happening.

After a few minutes, he stopped crying and he sat there thinking about what could’ve happened. His thoughts were interrupted upon hearing something behind him. He tensed up and put his hands down on the ledge, ready to jump off and land in the water a ways down from him. He had done this sort of thing before. He was ready to do it again. All of a sudden he felt a hand touch his shoulder. However, he knew it wasn’t Leon. It was someone different, but he felt like he knew who it was. Their grip was strong. He turned around and looked up and saw someone he hadn’t seen in years. Towering above him was the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel.

“Arthur-! I mean, uh, Elder Maxson, I didn’t expect to see you here. I was just-“

He was lifted up by Maxson and he turned him around quickly. Maxson raised his hand and delivered a blow to Gage’s face. He was knocked down by this, as he was not expecting it. When he hit the ground, he came to.

He had been dreaming the entire time. He woke up to Leon, arms wrapped around him. He was sweating again. He didn’t know whether or not to move, as he didn’t want to wake Leon. He didn’t want to bother Leon with his problems, but he knew that if they were to be in a relationship, he would have to talk about his problems with Leon. He would have to work on that. Out of nowhere, he felt something fly by his head. He looked around and saw nothing, but he surely didn’t feel like nothing was nearby. He felt something hit the back of his head. He looked down at what it was, and he saw a piece of paper. He picked it up and on the paper was a note saying, “ _ You had better take care of Leon or else. He has done a lot for us since he woke up. So, uh, yeah, take good care of him, and don’t lose his trust. It’s pretty damn hard to get back once you lose it. Trust me, I lost it once, and I don’t think he still fully trusts me. So, yeah that’s it. Take care now.”  _

“He’s being serious, isn’t he?” Gage whispered. He felt something touch his arm. He quickly looked to his right, and he saw one of the people that he saw during the fight earlier.

“Hey, man, keep quiet. Yes I’m being serious about this. I really do want you to take care of him. I know it seems like he can take care of himself, but sometimes, he thinks back to the Vault. It wreaks havoc on him. That’s where you come in. Of course you might have some competition, but hey, I’m not one to start trouble” said Deacon. The one who dabbles in manipulation and subterfuge.

“Uh, alright. I mean I wouldn’t ever leave Leon alone. Despite all that’s happened to me, I could never do the same to anyone else, let alone him.” Gage whispered, with a slightly concerned tone.

Deacon gave Gage a pat on the back and said good bye and with that, he was gone.

He looked back at Leon, who was still sleeping. He got up and walked back over to Leon.


	3. The Tides have changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I actually don't have a good description for this chapter. Life has been pretty difficult recently, so updates will be pretty scarce. But, I will keep writing.

He decided to give him his shirt, as he looked like he was shivering. It wasn’t exactly that cold, but Gage could guess as to why Leon was shivering. While he was asleep, back in the Vault, he was frozen. Maybe after he woke up, he could still feel the sharp coldness of the chamber he was in. Perhaps when he was asleep, he was brought back to that horrid place.  
He took off the shirt he had given him before. He gently put it over Leon, and he had stopped shivering a little bit. He decided to take a short walk, back down to Sanctuary. He wanted to see a little bit more of the settlement that Leon had so very enthusiastically put so much work into. As he started walking down the hill, he noticed an object in the sky, a long distance away. It looked like a machine that was flying.

“What? No, it can’t be them. Agh, I need to stop worrying so much, it was only just a dream. Dreams like that don’t happen. Besides, why would Maxson come all the way out here? Unless… That’s right. Leon is part of the Brotherhood. That gives him a perfect excuse to come out here. Maybe I should go wake Leon, or maybe that would upset him.” Gage said in a worried tone.

He decided to run back up the hill, and let Leon know what was happening. When he got up there, he saw Leon over by the ledge. He was kneeling down, as if he were trying to hide from the flying machine. Gage crouched down and made his way over to him, keeping his eyes on the machine. Once he made it over to Leon, he asked what that was.

“Leon, wh-what is that thing?” he didn’t sound worried, but it was more confusion than the latter.

 

“That, is a Vertibird. The flying aircraft’s that the Brotherhood uses. They use them to scout marks out, to drop and pick up their soldiers. They are used for many other things.” Leon said in a firm, but worried voice.  
It had completely phased Leon that Gage did not have his shirt on. He then realized that the shirt that he found on him when he woke up, was in fact Gage’s. He instantly grabbed the shirt, which was now draped over his shoulder, and looked at Gage. His eyes wide with confusion, but also lust. He slowly took the shirt off his shoulder, and handed it to Gage. He noticed that Gage, was not facing his way. He smiled a little and turned around to look at the Vertibird. That was his mistake. In front of him now stood an Assaultron. He instantly reached for his gun. But the robot grabbed him by the throat. Gage was already standing, as he had been grabbed by another one. The Vertibird had a spotlight on it, the light piercing the darkness all around them. It shone on the two of them and he saw the minigun start revving up, but then it stopped. He realized that whoever was on the Vertibird must’ve seen the two people. He began to notice that he couldn’t hear Gage anymore. He tried calling out to him, but got no response. He tried to turn around, but the robots grip was too strong. He was only human, and there was only so much he could do on his own. He started to see more darkness than before.

‘Is this it?! Is this the end?! No…. I can’t let them hurt Gage…!’ thought Leon.

All of a sudden he felt something shake the ground. He was awoken from his thoughts. He was then dropped, as the robot had been hit with a flurry of bullets. He heard a voice that he could never forget. No, make that two voices.

“Paladin, get this soldier to the Vertibird. I’ll take the other one.” Maxson said in his stoic voice.

Leon felt Danse pick him up and whisper to him, “It’s been a long time, Leon.”

Elder Maxson walked over to Gage and glanced at him. “Porter… How long has it been? When was the last time you had a shower. Mmm… Whatever the case may be, we’ll get you cleaned up when we get back to the Prydwen.” Maxson said this in a quiet voice, devoid of any emotion. He bent down and picked Gage up. He noticed the scratches on his throat, and then he saw the Assaultron’s claw. He wasn’t stupid, so he pieced things together. He knew what had happened. He started walking over to the Vertibird, but then he saw a ring on the ground. He walked over to pick it up and then he walked to the Vertibird. They were off to the Prydwen.

The two men were both unconscious. It took a very short amount of time to get to the Prydwen.  
Once they were latched on to the ship, Maxson and Danse both jumped out of the Vertibird with both of the men in their arms. They ran up the stairs and into the hall. They hurried up the ladder and rushed to the infirmary and laid them down on the cots that were there. Knight-Captain Cade was already getting things together to aid the two downed men. Once he was standing in between the cots, he gave them an overall assessment. He understood that they had both been choked, but nothing too serious was wrong with them. He did his thing, and then he called the two other men back to the infirmary. He told them that nothing was wrong. They both sighed, and looked at each other, and then the two men lying down.

“Thank you Knight-Captain Cade. Good job attending to the man who is not in our ranks.”  
Cade nodded. He then walked out to grab some more things. Maxson walked over to Leon and looked at his finger, and saw the same ring that he found on the ground. He kept it and looked over at Porter. He told Danse to come back in a few minutes.

“Leon and Porter…. To see the day I’d see the two of you together in the same place, at the same time.” Maxson said in a deep, calm voice. He put the ring on a chain he had in his pocket, and placed it in Leon’s palm and closed it, waiting for him to wake up.

He left the room after saying something to Porter.

After he left Danse came in and talked to Leon for a few minutes, knowing he was still unconscious. He left after ten minutes of talking to him.  
The four men all had a connection with each other. Leon and Gage didn’t not that they had connections, but they would soon find out.

Through the night, Leon and Gage had woken up, although, they were very confused. For a few moments, they just sat there, and then Leon recognized the sound that the ship made.  
“Gage, this is-“

“It’s the Prydwen, isn’t it?”  
Leon sat up with a shocked look on his face. He had so many things running through his mind, as he was still confused as to how they ended up here, what had happened before and why they had marks on their throats.

“Gage, how do you know where we and what that is?! I thought you had never left Nuka-World?”

“Leon… I should’ve told you this before. I’m really sorry. I used to be a part of the Brotherhood. A long time ago, when they were in the Capital Wasteland. But then they came here, and I kinda, just ran away. I couldn’t deal with killing harmless people all the time. So I broke free of their mission.”

“Gage, is that why you never liked it whenever I talked about them? Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve stopped right then and there!”  
Gage looked over at his boyfriend. He gave him a look of sorrow, and that killed Leon.

“I-I’m sorry. I should have told you before, I knew that it would be a matter of time before you found out or I told you.”

Leon got up and walked over to Gage and grabbed his hand.

“Hey, Gage. I’m sorry that I overreacted. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have made such a big deal out of this. I completely understand what you are saying though.”

They looked directly at each other. They were startled by the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway. They both scrambled to get up, but Gage was weak for some reason. Maxson and Danse had already walked through the door. Leon and Danse made eye contact in an instant.

“Danse? It’s been a long time. Uh, how have you been?” Leon said this with a wavering voice, as if he was scared to talk to the two men standing before him.

“….Uh, greetings sir.” Gage said to Maxson. They both knew that one of them would break soon enough.

“Don’t play stupid, Porter. You know me just as well as I know you.” Maxson said this in a rough voice, almost like he wanted to cry, but not from sadness, but from anger. Or maybe it was the feeling of missing someone and seeing them for the first time in what felt like ten years.

“Wait, wait, wait. You two know each other?! But how? I thought you never left Nuka-World?” Leon said, just about yelling.

“Knight, I will fill you in later on. All that matters is that you two are alive. Leon, another things that requires your attention. We have located the Institute.”

“You’ve located the institute!?” Gage had never heard Leon so happy and upset at the same time.

“I think I remember you telling me about the Institute.”

“Silence, Porter!” Maxson raised his voice.

Gage looked at the three men and looked down and ran out of the room. They all looked after him. None of them moving until they heard a door slam shut. Leon hesitated, deciding on whether or not he should go after him, or confront Maxson. He decided to leave the room, but not without giving Maxson a look of anger.  
Once he had left the room, he ran to the ladder that led to the main entrance. He was in rush but in the back of his mind he kept thinking, ‘why am I in such a hurry? There is no where he could possibly go.’

Once he was near the entrance he found the Lionheart pendant on the ground. He bent down and picked it up, noticing how cold it was.

“Of course it’s cold. We are on a floating machine. It’s cold in here. He opened the door and noticed that there was a shirt on the ground. It was torn in multiple places. He saw Gage, sitting on the ledge of the Prydwen.

“I’m sorry that I got you into this, Leon. I knew I should’ve stayed back in Nuka-World. I knew if we ever did come to the Prydwen, that Maxson would recognize me. I’m so sorry.” Gage said in a solemn tone.  
Leon ran forward, as he knew what was about to happen. He wrapped his arms around Gage’s body. He firmly held onto him and pulled him back on to the deck. Once they were far enough from the edge, Leon grabbed Gage by the throat, lifting him off the deck and asked one simple question.

“Why?”

“Leon, I-!” Gage cut himself off by grabbing the hand on his throat. His other hand searching for Leon’s face. When he realized that he was having no luck with that, he put his hand on Leon’s, on top of his other hand. He was starting to have trouble breathing.

“Le….on! Please, let me down!”  
Maxson ran out the entrance and over to Leon. He grabbed his arm and pried it from Gage’s throat. He picked Gage up from the ground, and set him by a box to keep him from falling. He grabbed Leon and shoved him against a stack of crates.


	4. Thunder and Lightning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once this reaches 100 views or hits, I'll upload the 5th chapter. I wont be able to upload as frequently soon, as I have school, and it's tough, and we have state tests coming up, but don't fret. I'll still write more.

Upon impact, Leon came to. He blinked a couple times and then he went limp. He was drained. All of his anger had come out. Maxson let him down and picked him and walked over to Gage.  
“Porter, are you ok? Do I need to call Danse out to help you get up the stairs?” Maxson said in a calm voice, different from all other times he had spoken.  
“I’ll be fine, just let me catch my breath.” Gage said panting.  
“Alright. Come find me later. I will be in my quarters.” With that he left with Leon in his arms.  
Something was brewing inside of Gage, something that he had not felt in a long time.  
He felt a burning anger. He wanted to take it out on Maxson, but he didn’t know why. Seeing Leon in someone else’s arms, sparked a flame in him, and this flame was not about to die that easily. He had known Maxson for such a long time, and he knew that Maxson would not do anything with or to Leon. Not as long as they were together.

He got up and fell back down again, noting how weak he felt.  
“What’s with you?! I thought you said you’d never give up on someone no matter what!”  
To which he replied with, “I don’t know!”  
“Wait, who said that?” He got up and was leaning on the boxes, looking around.  
He kept looking for someone and realized that it was coming from behind him. He turned around and saw that there was someone standing there. In the shadows. A man with a sword- no two- many swords on his back and on his waist. He had armor on. It was a dark shade of purple. It had hints of dark gold.  
“I know you only because you are going to come to my world. Our world. A world of perpetual fighting, where two gods are locked in an endless struggle. The goddess I am fighting for, Materia, wants to protect the world. She wants to save the world from the grip of the Void. I am here to let you know that your time here is limited. You have 5 months to get everything together, and then you’ll be taken to this world. My name is Cecil, I’ll be your mentor for when the ordained time has come upon us.”  
With that he stuck his hand out and a portal. He walked into it and it closed. When it was gone, he looked down and saw three things. A faintly glowing and semi-transparent sword. A large sword that had a very long body. The tip was very pointy. The handle was a skinny, but strong pole like object. The third object was a crystal. Gage had seen it before, in his dreams. It was in the shape of the Lionheart pendant he had always carried around with-  
“Wait, where is it? It’s not in my pockets!” Gage exclaimed with a worried look on his face. He felt a hole in one of his pockets. He silently cursed, pondering if he had dropped it off the Prydwen. He looked around the deck and didn’t find it. Once he was done looking, he started walking up the stair’s when out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shining in the distance. He took note of it and walked in the main entrance. 

Upon entering he saw Leon and Maxson in the meeting room. He walked over to them and said hello.  
“Oh Gage! I was just about to go look for you, saved me the trouble.” Leon said this, as if he didn’t remember what had happened not too long ago. But, then he said something that made Gage realize something.  
“I-I… Please forgive me. I’m so sorry for what I did. I don’t know what had gotten into me.” He reached out and grabbed Gage’s hands. Upon the contact, Gage’ started glowing. He moved back, breaking the contact that the two men had.  
“No, not please, Cecil! Don’t take me now!” Gage yelled.  
He stopped glowing, and he fell to his knees; a look of confusion on his face. He felt so drained all of a sudden. He saw Leon and Maxson run over to him and grab him. To keep him from falling to the ground completely. Leon was yelling his name.  
“Gage! Gage! Hey Gage, wake up, please! What’s wrong!?”  
“No… Plea… Not now…” Gage whispered.  
He woke up in the Sick-Bay.  
He saw three outfits, on the counter.  
One was a black leather suit, with no sleeves. The second was another leather outfit, with red, white and black on it. It looked like it was fit to his body. The third outfit was one with just shorts. And what seemed to be a leather strap that went around his shoulder and to the back of the shorts. He reached out for one and they all came towards him. The shorts fit him perfectly. They hung down a bit, but he actually liked it. The strap went up from the left side of his shorts and went back down to the right side of the back of his shorts. He looked down and saw that his chest was exposed, and he felt so comfortable.  
“I feel… Really surprisingly comfortable.” He started to walk around and he noticed that he had no shoes on. He didn’t mind. He walked out of the Sick-Bay, and he saw the three men had had occupied the room earlier. They all looked at him as if he was a stranger.  
“G-Gage? Is that you? You look different.” Leon asked, confused as to why he didn’t have a shirt on. Or shoes.  
“Yeah, it’s me?” Gage responded, slightly confused. “Oh is it what I’m wearing? It’s different. But I kinda like it.  
“You seem… Different somehow. In a good way.” Leon said, looking Gage up and down. Maxson addressed an issue. Synths were still out in the Commonwealth. He wanted Gage, Leon and Danse to take down another base of operations.  
“This will be no easy mission. We have detected numerous Synths in this compound, and I don’t want any to escape alive or dead. Make sure that you look for any strange sources of energy that may be present in there. That’s all. Dismissed.” Maxson said with a glare that would make anyone who had never seen him before, freeze in their tracks.

The three men left the room and out the entrance. They all took a few minutes making sure that they were ready for a fight.

“I know this fight won’t be easy but hey, there’s three of us. That’s better than one of us.” Leon said enthusiastically.  
Danse looked at him with a confused look on his face, but then he smiled a little.  
“I… Guess you’re right. I shouldn’t be so pessimistic. I’ve missed your enthusiasm. It’s almost, refreshing, in a way.” Danse said, with a little laugh at the end. 

Gage looked at both of them and smiled.  
“Are we ready to go? I’m ready to go.” Gage said with a snarky grin on his face.  
“I’m ready to go”  
“Ready to go, Soldiers.”  
With that they were off. 

All of them boarded the Vertibird, and told the pilot where to go. 

 

They soared high above the sky, looking down on the Commonwealth made them all feel at peace. It had been far too long since they had a challenge like this.  
The wind felt good on their skin. Gage had longed to feel this way again. Danse was used to it, it didn’t faze him. Leon with his hair the way it was, resisted the wind and stood up. The three men were silent, except for them making plans every now and then, for how they would enter they compound. 

It didn’t take long to arrive at their destination.  
It was too quiet for their liking. When Leon and Danse had gotten out of the Vertibird, Gage had felt a strange feeling, as if someone was watching him. He looked around and he couldn’t see anyone. He told the others before getting out. But once he touched the ground, he started glowing again. Danse and Leon both noticed at the same time. They turned around and ran back over to Gage. He had fallen to his knees again, and was staring at his hands. With a sudden movement, he slammed his palms into the ground, with such force that he left a dent. He was screaming in pain. It felt like something inside of him was changing, physically. What he didn’t know was that a crystal was forming inside of him. He looked up, staring at the sky. Clouds had started to form. They were dark and thick. An ominous feeling arriving with them. Thunder was heard loud and clear for miles away. Lightning was seen from every direction. They stayed there, trying to help him, but when Leon had reached out to touch Gage, he was thrown backwards. Danse went over to help him get up. They both looked at Gage, and saw that he was fading again. They ran back over to Gage and Leon got on his knees and tried putting his hand through the field of lighting separating him from his beloved. He pushed with all of his might, and he managed to get a finger through. He didn’t know what to do, so he did the one thing that he thought would work, he slipped his ring off and dropped it in front of Gage. For a moment it seemed like everything had stopped. The lightning ceased, the thunder stopped rumbling. Gage started to come to, while slowly returning to his physical state. He fell to the ground, just as before. He was coughing, as if he hadn’t breathed the entire time. He was wide eyed, looking around as if he had no knowledge of what had happened. Then he made eye contact with Gage. He reached out his hand, and then he collapsed. Rolling over onto his side, he looked up at the sky, where there were still some residual clouds, that hadn’t yet cleared away. Leon and Danse walked over to him and both grabbed his arms and pulled him up.


	5. Careening into Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gage begins to realize what is happening but doesnt say anything until the last minute. He knows that they are doing something dangerous.

 

Once he was on his feet, he thanked the two men.  He then apologized for causing such a distraction, but the others were just happy that he was alive. Leon walked up to him and threw his arms around Gage, pulling him into a tight hug.

 

“Gage, I don’t know what the hell is happening to you… But, if something is happening, please let me know.” Leon said this with such a pleading and desperate tone, that even Danse could see the love he had for Gage.

“…. I’m sorry, Leon. I should’ve told you what happened sooner, but right now, I want you to focus on your mission. I can tell you later, in full detail.” Gage said in a quiet voice. He started walking forward, and then realized that he was floating, but he was in full control of how he moved. If he walked then he would walk and move forward. It worked this way with each direction. He could float upwards if he so wanted to. He was just as confused as Danse and Leon, but he decided to accept it.

“I guess this is a side effect of what’s happening to me… Alright… I’ll deal with it. Let’s go guys. Sorry for all the stuff that just happened. I’ll do my best to keep things under control.” He said with his voice cutting out near the end. He had too many questions that he wanted to ask Cecil. But he never knew when he was going to show up, but he was sure that in these upcoming months, he’d have more than enough opportunities to ask him.

 

The three men walked, or floated, their way up to the door that led to the entrance. The door was very odd looking, as it had many different slots in it. Gage was behind the two of them and he was now learning that he could walk normally on the ground. All he had to do in order to land, was think in his mind that he wanted to be on the ground. If he wanted to float, he had to think about floating. He didn’t float very far off the ground, but it was at least 2 feet. He saw the slots and he couldn’t think of any other way into the compound. So he decided to float up to the very top of the compound. The other men agreed that maybe there was another way to get in.

One minute later and Gage was at the top of the compound. He saw a lever that was protruding from a box, and he realized that it had a wire that went over the rooftop, and down to the door. He went down to the box and pulled the lever up. He felt something moving and he looked over the edge to see the giant door opening.

 

He saw Danse and Leon looking up at him, beckoning him down. He hovered down to them and landed. They waited until the door had finished opening. Once it had, they all walked in and turned on their flash lights. Gage wanted to try something, he knew that he was going to disappear in 5 months, so he wanted to see what his new powers were. He quietly put his gun on his back, and he held out his hand. The two other men were looking at him with strange looks on their faces. Gage concentrated on something, he couldn’t tell what it was, but it was close by. As he closed his eyes, he told himself what he wanted to see. What he wanted to feel. What he wanted to _cast_.

 

The second he opened his eyes, he saw and felt exactly what he wanted to. There in the palm of his hand, was a ball of fire. Its bright orange glow, cast on the wall’s lit up the room that they were in. The door had closed behind them and they knew that the only way to go was forward.

 

Together, they were strong and nothing would get in their way. Whatever they found in here, they would take down as a team.

 

As they made their way further down the main hall, they heard something shuffling around in the room to their left. Gage told them to back up and he started to focus. The more he thought about it, the easier it was to summon and cast magic.  He opened his eyes, and raised his hand so that it was straight out. He pulled back and shoved his hand forward, and the ball of fire flew into the room and caused an explosion. They saw a synth crawl out and then cease all functions. Danse walked over to it and saw that it was holding a rod shaped object. He kicked the body out of the way and bent down to pick it up. He opened it and inside was a rock. Gage was busy however looking at a rope that was laying on the ground. He got a strange feeling in his gut.

“This looks odd… I don’t like it.” He said with a sudden change in tone. He instantly realized what it was and had to act fast. He spun around and looked at Danse and Leon. He knew what was going to happen. He had accepted it. He extended both of his arms so that his palms were facing the two men. He closed his eyes, and knew that Cecil had lied to him, but understood that he needed him desperately in his world. He opened his eyes and in his palms were two spells, Invigorate and Teleport. He looked at the two men and made direct eye contact. First Danse, and then Leon. He stared long and hard into his lovers eyes. He blinked once, and then twice, letting the tears fall. Leon started crying, and before he let Gage continued. He reached into his pockets and tried to find the chain, but he couldn’t and he looked at Gage with sadness, but then he saw something around Gage’s neck. He reached out and put his hand on Gage’s chest.

 

“I-I’m sorry that I couldn’t help you. I don’t know what’s happening but please don’t leave me. You’re all I’ve got left.” He threw his arms around Gage, and held on tight.

“Back up Leon. Please, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Gage said in a steady tone.

 

Leon listened to him and backed up.

 

He said three words that would go on to serve as Gage’s reason to fight.

“ _I love you.”_

He cast a spell that would infuse the two men and one other person with the power to awaken their inner strength, when the time came. They glowed a number of different colors, all at once, like an Aurora. Then he gave Leon another look, but this time it was filled with sadness. Then he gave him a smile to them. He cast teleport on them and they started fading. The two men looked up and saw a giant cage falling over the area where Gage was standing.

_Forgive me…_

When they had both disappeared, Gage said something in his head.

_‘Leon, I love you so much. Please don’t be upset with me. Through the next couple of months, I will maintain contact with you through our thoughts. I’m sorry that I’m leaving you like this, but… You have Danse. I know that you wanted to find Stadius, and maybe you will. If you do, well… That’s great. Keep him safe. Please. I love you so, so very much. Take care of yourselves.”_

The cage had hit the concrete floor with a loud crash. Echoing throughout the floor he was on. He was ready for whatever came next.


	6. One More Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gage realizes he has been tricked, yet again.

Dream sequence

_‘Where am I? What is this place?_

_Leon, it’s so good to see you again! I’m so sorry that I left. I can explain to you as the days go by, but, you’ll be asleep. I can only talk to you like this for at the most, a year.’_  


_A year!? That’s a long time! Forgive me if I’m being unreasonable, but-_

_I just miss you. It’s hard when you aren’t here. You were the reason that I kept fighting, but I hope that you do come back to me. One day._

_“Leon, have no fear. I **will** come back to you. I promise you that. But for now, I must rest as the cycle hasn’t begun yet. Please take care. I love you.”_

_No Gage, don’t go! Please! Don’t! Don’t leave me alone! I need you. Help me…._

“No!!!”

 

“Leon, are you ok? What’s wrong?” Danse asked with a slight slur, having only woken up moments ago.

Leon looked at Danse, and immediately threw his arms around him. Breaking into heavy sobs of grief and confusion. Danse pulled him in closer to him, and gave him a strong squeeze. After a minute, he started rubbing Leon’s back, rubbing in a circular motion, trying to soothe his friend. His comrade.

 

 

 

“Is this what I get for saving them!?” Gage screamed. He knew that he what had happened could not be undone. He let go of the cage bars that he had been so tightly been gripping. He backed up till he hit the back of the cage. He then proceeded to fall down, having given up trying to escape.

 

“Why was I even trying to escape? I know that there’s no way of getting out of this…” he said to himself.

He held his palm out and instantly a bright blue-ish white colored sphere appeared. He aimed it at the bars, and when it hit, they froze.

I wonder if I could materialize a sword or something. He put his hands by his sides, trying to think of a way to do this. He, by no means, was against people who used swords, but, all the scars on his body were from swords. He wasn’t sure how to feel about conjuring a sword.

“I need to put my own past and thoughts aside and just do it. Ok, here goes nothing.”

He threw his arm out to the side and _on_ his arm, instead of in his hand, gauntlets.

“Uh, that’s not exactly what I wanted… but I guess that’ll have to do. I have no idea what they can do, but I’ll find out.” He said to himself. He raised his arms, and realized that they covered more than his arm. They ran up all the way to his to his shoulders. Yet, he could fully control his movement. He wasn’t hindered by the, and he was even more amazed at the way they glowed. Emitting a faint but eerie red and black aura. He thought he could faintly see some purple in the midst of it all.

_‘Guess I’ll give it a good punch…’_

He backed up. He took a breath, and then he raised his arms so that they were level with his shoulders. He closed his eyes, and then opened them. He never realized how fast he could punch. His fist shot out from where it was. It hit the cage bars, and they shattered into millions of shards. He flinched as they flew in all directions. He didn’t feel anything cut him. He opened his eyes and saw everything was still. Or so he thought. He thought he saw something move, so he stopped. He noticed that everything was moving, but much slower than he was. He reached out and grabbed one of the shards. He tried moving it, but it stayed the way it was.

 

 

"Wait, wait, wait. What’s happening, times slowing down now? What next?” He said, with a slight hint of genuine interest.

As soon as he spoke, time sped up. Flowing normally, he walked out of the cage. He took one step and he felt something watching him. He ignored it, as he had a feeling he knew what it was. He continued walking out of the cage for a few minutes. He stopped upon hearing a crash from behind him. He spun around and he looked around. Out of nowhere, Cecil appeared. Gage jumped back twice.

“Wait what the hell just happened- erm, never mind. Cecil, what are you doing here?”

“I see that you’ve chosen to save them from being trapped here with you. They could’ve come with you and fought.”

“WAIT WHAT!” Gage exclaimed. He had a look of defeat on his face for a few seconds, and then he realized that maybe he could get them to come back here. Then, he had another realization… He wanted anything but that. He wanted them to stay far away from this horrid place. He let a sigh of annoyance out and he looked up at Cecil. Realizing that Cecil’s eyes were now pure white, and were glowing, he stepped back.

“Do not be afraid, Gage. It is still me, I’m just in a different form. They call this, Dark Knight. It is my alternate form. I can attack my enemies with tremendous force, but at the expanse of my own life force. This is how I fight. When you come to my world, you will find your own way of fighting. You are most likely going through a lot right now. Your mind and body are trying to find the one style of fighting that is best for you. Who knows…? Maybe you’ll be the one who can fight anyway they want to.” Cecil sounded muffled as if he were behind something. ‘ _Duh. He’s in solid armor. Of course he sounds that way.’_

 

“You are right about that, I have been having, a shit ton of strange things happening to me since we’ve met. I can’t even begin to describe the pain it’s causing me, but if this means that I protect the people here, then I guess it’s worth it. I hope Leon’s not too mad at me…”

 

 

 

“LET GO OF ME! I NEED TO GO BACK THERE AND HELP HIM!” Leon screamed at the knights holding him back.

“Please, sir, try to calm down. I understand that you loved him! But he was a _Raider_!” a Knight exclaimed.

Upon hearing the last sentence, Leon suddenly stopped resisting, causing the 4 Knights to fall down on top of him. “Sorry sir.” “Forgive me.” Followed by other different ways to say, “I’m sorry”.

 

Leon closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and then exhaled and opened his eyes. He moved them all out of the way. Standing up, he turned around and gave them a glare that rivaled Maxson’s. There was only one thing that made them freeze where they were. Leon’s eyes were glowing a sickly shade of red and orange. His pupils white and as small as pinholes.

“ _Once you have someone that you love taken away from you, come back to me and say that again. Regardless of who he is, I still loved him. He gave me a chance.”_ Leon said with such hatred and anger in his voice. He walked away, not looking back. He forced open the door with ease. That was the last that they were going to see of him for a long time to come.

 

“Alright, I think he’s pretty mad. Fuck, I messed up big time… Ugh, fuck!” He punched a wall and it came crumbling down. He jumped back twice, again and covered his face. “Damn it, my bad.”

“I’ll come with you for now, so you can see how I fight.” Cecil said as he started walking down the hall they were in.

As they walked along, they talked about all of the things that were going to change once Gage was transported to the other world. He did not know that there was a portal that Cecil had hidden in plain sight. He wouldn’t know what had happened until he awoke from his crystal stasis.


	7. A Distant World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gage has his first encounter with the deities of this world. Not knowing what to make of it, he stays as calm as possible.

World B:

“Hey, you need to wake up - NOW!”

“H-huh? What’s happening? Where am I? Why do I feel so strange?”

“C’mon, wake up!”

_‘Wake up, Gage’_

“LEON!”

Upon opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of multiple people flying around and fighting each other. The people looked like Cecil, but different. Some of them had armor, while some of them looked like they were wearing normal clothes, if normal is the word.

Swords were being swung at people. Magic was flying through the air. People were being slammed into walls and smashed into the ground. Yet somehow they managed to get up. He looked over to his right and saw a man being attacked by 3 people. They were all ganging up on him. One of them jumped up in the air and lifted his sword above his head. He then waited a couple seconds and then a blue aura appeared and then disappeared. The same thing happens again and then he spun around and because of how fast he spun a tornado appeared and flew towards the weakened man. It lifted him up in the air and left him vulnerable. Another man who was on the ground threw his hand out to the side and out came a red aura. Straight after that, he shot his fist up in the air and another orange aura appeared. The last person materialized in front of Gage, and stood there for a second before launching themselves up. He had a sword that looked to be about 7 or 8 feet in length. He had very long hair. It was white and came all the way down to his legs. He lifted his sword up to the side of his face and in that instant, he shot himself at the defenseless man. His sword was being thrown around incredibly fast and he was hitting the man each time. After a couple seconds, he flew up in the air, flipping himself upside down and then with great force, he came down. His sword in his hand, at mach speed slammed the man into a wall. He let out a grunt of pain and then he fell to the ground. They had to be about 13 feet in the air. He hit the ground with such force that even Gage could feel it. The man lie there motionless, and then a white aura covered him and he dissolved.

 

Gage got up and slowly started backing away but he bumped into a wall. The others looked at him and started running the other way. He stood up and looked around to see if there was a way he could get out of this foreign place. He soon spotted what appeared to be a portal of some sort. He made his way over to it, only for more people to emerge. They all glared at him.

“Oh… Fuck!” Gage yelled as he got punched in the face.

He fell backwards and passed out. The last thing he remembered seeing was his attacker fly over him.

When he woke the only thing he saw was darkness. But then a light appeared and it started coming towards him. It started to take the form of a person, but he did not know who. All of a sudden, the darkness around him faded into light. He looked around and saw countless bodies floating in an almost ethereal way. He could see through them. They were also glowing. Particles were flowing off of their bodies, almost as if they were disappearing

As he started to stand up, he saw the figure manifest into a physical form.

Standing before him was a woman. Not just any woman, but a goddess. She had long flowing hair, but it was fanned out. Flowing. She wore white robes with a tiara.

“W-who are you?” Gage nervously asked.

The goddess extended her hand out above him. In it, a small ball of light appeared. It started spinning and flew up in the air. It started drawing in energy and it started sparking. After a few moments, it stopped spinning and the light around it vanished. What he saw was the crystal he had seen in his dreams. It floated down to him and he looked at the goddess.

“My name is Cosmos. I am the goddess of harmony. The world you saw before, was a world in which conflict never ends. I have bestowed upon you the power you will need to fight and prosper here.”

“Forgive me for interrupting. You said prosper? How long am I going to be here exactly?”

“That, is up to you. If you want to go back home you can. But know that in doing so, you will be called back every night. If you stay here and fight until the conflict is resolved, you will be able to come and go as you please. I’m sure one of my warriors will explain this to you in more detail. But for now I must rest. So go forth and save this world.” Cosmos said as she faded away.  
Gage felt a rumbling. He looked around at the bodies and noticed more particles coming off of them. He saw light shining down on his feet. He looked up and saw what was a glowing dragon.

“Holy… Shit. That thing is huge.” He said in awe.

Upon saying this the dragon descended from the clouds at incredible speed and flew below him. He realized he was on a platform of some sort and he could see the dragon still. It turned around and started flying back towards him. This time however, he started to spiral around the platform. The bodies then began to rise as the dragon got higher and higher. Eventually the bodies vanished and Gage was the only one left. He began to feel dizzy. He took one step forward and fell to his knee. The dragon had reached the clouds when Gage was enveloped in a white light. He then disappeared as well and the dragon had gone back to wherever it had come from.


	8. A New Ally.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Champions begin to tell Gage all about this world. The more he learns, the more he begins to understand the worlds situation. At the same time however, he begins to find reasons not to not fight. He also makes a new, ally, after an incident occurs.

“... So there’s someone in there?”

“Supposedly”

“I can kind of make out a body now that you mention someone being in there. Who knows when this one will be released.”

“We should go, the goddess is calling us.”

“I’ll stay here for a while. I don’t care for her plans. Finding a way out of here is what I want to do. So go on, go back to her and tell me if there’s anything relevant to my mission.”

“Oh, uh, alright. We’ll see you later then.”

“So, another helpless ‘champion’ has been called, eh? Damn it. When will this end? Maybe I should go out there and fight. Last time this happened the world-”

 

The meteor in front of him began to glow. It began making sounds as if it were shattering. One by one, small cracks began to appear. One shard broke off and shot at the man standing before the giant rock. He moved out of the way at the last second and he could tell that this champion was going to be different. The meteor then started shaking. The man backed up and braced himself, for he didn’t know if it was going to explode or what.

The meteor started to pulse. Electricity started to shoot out from it.

“Already!? It just landed a half hour ago!”

Upon him moving forward one step, the mystifying meteor exploded.

“Damn it!”

 

* * *

 

 

The next thing that he knew, he was in this tower. He couldn't remember how he got there. But seeing as how everything had been happening, he decided not to question it. Everything was blue. There was a group of people, very similar to the ones he saw before. He saw Cecil among them. He was about to walk up to him and ask him where they were, but all of a sudden a bright flash blinded him. After a couple seconds, he could finally see again. He looked around and saw everyone staring at something above him.

 

He looked up, and what he saw gave him a feeling of confusion and dread. There, floating before him was a woman who had an aura that felt so familiar. She had long flowing blonde hair, with red and orange highlighted tips. She announced her name was Materia and that we had been summoned here to fight a war that had supposedly ended a long time ago. But now the gods had been brought back and their world was falling apart. In order to restore the worlds balance, an energy was needed. The only way to amass this energy was to fight each other. Upon hearing this everyone started murmuring about how that ‘this was impossible’  or how they don’t want to hurt each other.

Out of nowhere Gage asked out loud, “Cosmos?”

Everyone there looked at him with looks of surprise.

A man in blue armor and a helmet with horns on it stepped forward and asked him how he knew that name.

“Uh, well I, guess I met her or something. I have no recollection of when it happened, but I do know that it happened. She told me that she had imbued me with the power to fight. Although I don’t feel any different.”

The man looked behind him, at Cecil. He nodded and Cecil nodded back.

“Are you the one Cecil has been telling us about?”

“Uh, maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t seen Cecil since, well, I ended up here. Is there something bad about that? Me meeting Cosmos? Or is it like some sort of prophecy?” He asked, looking around at everyone there.

“Ah, I think it’d be best if I introduced myself. They call me, the Warrior of Light.” he said. From there, he proceeded to tell Gage all about the past cycles of battle. He went into great detail about certain things. How Cosmos imbued a few of the champions currently present with power, and how that power was never meant to be awoke. How they were destined to end that cycle and make it easier for the next cycle. He told him of Chaos, how he was needed to maintain the balance of the world. He had some of the other warriors help him talk about earlier cycles that he couldn’t fully recall. After they filled him in, along with Materia, he had this to say.

 

“So, I’ve been called here to fight a war that has been going on for literal eons, and we are supposed to fight each other to create energy to sustain the world’s balance? You’re asking me if I find anything wrong with this?! I’m not from around here. I- You all have such incredible backgrounds, you have all of these special powers and you all know one another. But me, I don’t know anyone. Where I come from, all we do is fight and survive. I live in a wasteland. Bombs went off and destroyed everything. We have to fend for ourselves. The powers and abilities that I had when I was back home, they aren’t here anymore. So once again, I quite literally have to fend for myself. It feels like I’m starting over. I’ll go find others to fight, on my own. I need some time to think about everything that’s happening. I’m sorry.”

 

Gage walked out of the tower and looked up to the sky. He didn’t expect to see a meteor hurtling towards the ground. Gage looked around to see where it might land, but he couldn’t figure it out. So, he started running.

 

_‘Maybe I can run up that hill over there and get a better view of what lies around here.’_

As he made his way up the hill, he noticed that there was a shrine of some sort on a ledge to his left.

He hesitated walking over to it. He didn’t want to miss seeing this meteor hit. He made a mental note of where it was, and then he ran up even further. He reached another ledge and this time he could see past the hills. He saw a desolate and vast wasteland. He got down on his knee and looked around to see if he could see anything significant, but he saw nothing. Once again he felt rumbling. He looked up to see the meteor even closer to the ground now.

“Oh shit.” was all he could say before the meteor started glowing blood red. Then it was blue, chaos purple, and then it was shining radiantly with an aura that was divine. He knew that something was about to change. Something that might help him discover the secrets of this world.

 

“Oh god damn it! If this thing is about to hit the ground, I reall-”

The meteor flew down at such force that Gage thought he was going to die from the shockwave. However, everything was standing still. The meteor was in the ground, pretty deep from what Gage could tell.

He rubbed his eyes to see if he was just seeing things, but sure enough, he and the surrounding area were perfectly unharmed.

“What the hell is going on here? He asked.

Looking around once again to make sure he wasn’t dreaming or anything, he started walking down to the meteor. He could feel a heat but it wasn’t unbearable. He saw that there was an imprint in the meteor, in the shape of a hand. He walked up to it and looked closer at it. He noticed that it didn’t have and fingerprints or anything like flesh. It was almost robot like. It had orange and black lines running across the hand, much like an actual human would have.

  


As he was trying to figure out what it was, he saw something inside of the meteor flash. He began to make out a body. He couldn’t see any flesh at first, all he saw was a tall man. He could make out some features such as, a beard that came to a point, short black hair, and a scar on his forehead.

 

Out of nowhere came a flash of light. Temporarily blinded, Gage stumbled backwards and heard something crack. The meteor was cracking.  He could hear chunks of it hitting the ground. Still unable to see, he stopped moving and set his feet. He put all of his weight in his feet so he wouldn’t move. It was then, that he felt something hit the ground. It sounded like they fell and that’s when he started to hear breathing. Or gasping for air. He rubbed his eyes, trying to see what was happening. After a couple seconds, he was able to see a little bit better. There was still residual spots in his eyes where things were bright. He looked down and saw a body on their hands and knees.

 

“Uh, hey! Are you ok? Do you need help?” he asked as sincerely as he could.

The person on the ground was a man, in his mid 30’s. He knelt down beside him and put his hand on his shoulder. The other man reached his hand up and grabbed Gage’s hand. Gage yelled out in pain. The man’s hand was cold, and metallic. The man then stood up and grabbed Gage by the chest and lifted him into the air.

 

“Oh shit!” Gage knew what was about to happen.

The man then used all of his strength to slam Gage into the ground. Upon impact Gage spat up blood.  The man let go of him and backed away. He put one hand to his head and groaned. He stumbled back a little and then fell to one knee. Gage, still choking, tried to move but couldn’t. The other man then stood up and looked at him. He had some sort of shield over his eyes. He couldn’t see his eyes. But he could tell that he wasn’t normal. He had a trench coat on and he couldn’t really see his body, but a gust of wind just so happened to come by and moved the coat a little. He saw that his body was metallic like as well.

 

“W-who are you?” Gage said still trying not- to choke.

“My name is Adam. Adam Jensen.”

“Hang on! Please, don’t hurt me. I won’t hurt you trust me. I know you don’t know what’s happening, but if you let me live, I can tell you what’s happening.” Gage said with his hand on his back, trying in vain to ease the pain.

“Fine.” Adam walked over to Gage and knelt down a little and extended his hand. Gage reached up and grabbed Adam’s hand, and he got lifted off the ground faster than he thought he would.

“I guess if it means I’ll have someone to cover me. What can you do?” He asked in a raspy voice. Gage was initially confused, but then he realized that he meant, what kinds of powers or abilities does he have.

“Uh, I really don’t know just yet. I’m assuming you have some sort of super strength?”

“You could say that. I have a plethora of weapons at my disposal. There are plenty that are still unknown to me, so even I’m still learning how to use everything that’s in my body. New things are unlocked as I upgrade things. I have these blades that I can shoot out of my arm that can pin enemies against walls, and if I so choose to, I can charge them and they start to heat up and upon impact, they explode. I also have these things, they come out of my knuckles and depending on how long I charge them, the more will appear when I let them go. I can also become invisible for a few seconds.” Adam explained.

Gage was standing there in awe. He had no idea how to comprehend it.

“Wow. I uh-”

“And yeah, I do have some level of super strength.”

“I-uh, well ok. That’s pretty reassuring. I really don’t know what I’m able to do… I know, I know. Everyone here has some sort of power, or powers in your case. Someone said that eventually, I’ll find out what it is that I can do to help fight.”

“If it gets you down that much.. Here, take this. It’s a rifle, but it’s a bit tricky to use. I can show you how to use it.”

Adam took the rifle from his coat pocket and handed it to Gage. Something inside of him flickered. He thought that it was just his natural instincts kicking in. After all, he was a Raider. Being able to use any resources at your disposal is necessary to prosper. Maybe it had been so long since he held a weapon, that this was his body moving on it’s own.

 

Before Adam could even start explaining how to take it out of safety mode, Gage had already switched it off and was aiming it at a rock a few yards away. Adam looked at him with a hint of curiosity.

_‘It looks as if he already knows how to use this gun, which is interesting because he definitely isn’t where I’m from.’_

Gage, took a step with his right foot and took one step back with his left foot. Putting all his weight into his feet, he held his breath. He moved the rifle for a few seconds, trying to find the spot where it felt most comfortable. Then, he aimed it at a rock a good distance away. And he pulled the trigger.

Upon the bullets hitting the rock, a cloud of dust appeared. When it cleared, the rock was no longer there, and instead was in shards strewn about the surrounding area.

“Impressive, I’ll give you that." Adam said, in that stoic voice.

Upon hearing that, Gage looked at him and said something only a little sarcastic.

"If you think that's impressive, then you should see what back home is like for me." 

Adam only scuffed. Clearly not impressed with Gage's response. Gage laughed a little and told him that they'd go see the goddess of this realm. Adam looked at him again. Gage couldn't tell if it was a surprised look or something else. 

"Goddess? As in a deity? What the hell kind of drugs are you on?" Adam asked with great confusion and incredulity.

"Guess you don't have goddesses or gods or whatever back home either. Well, you're in for a surprise." With that, Gage turned around and motioned for Adam to follow him. 


	9. Bahamut, the King of Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gage and Adam get to know each other a little more, but are interrupted by an unknown force. Adam comes across a summon. Gage finds a new Crystal.

“So, uh Adam, I’m kinda interested in you. Like where you are from and shit like that.” Gage said with a hint of curiosity. He didn’t want to pry into the guys life, but this was someone from a different world. Or so he thought.

“Wouldn’t hurt me to tell you a little about myself.  Like I said earlier, my name is Adam Jensen. I’m from Chicago, but the last place that I was in was Prague. I was on a mission, I had to rid this bookstore from the gang that was using it as a hideout. I remember getting hit by something and the next thing I know, I wake up here. You know the rest. I basically almost killed you. Sorry about that.”

 

“Wait, you said you were from Chicago? That’s on… Earth? Right?” Gage was starting to get confused again and Adam only looked at him.

“...Yeah, it is. It’s in Illinois. And Prague is in the Czech Republic. It’s really nice there actually. There is a lot of crime and injustices that happen there, but that’s why I’m there. Being part of TF29, or Task Force 29, means that I have to keep people in their places. Make sure that no one causes any trouble. That’s one of my jobs.” Adam said, not even looking at Gage.

Upon hearing all of that, Gage felt oddly sad.

“I guess some people can be from the same world as others. We are from the same world, yet you look much more, clean and you dress nicely. Where I come from, everything is fucked. The bombs went off and its a huge mess. Clothes are either from a long time ago or they are armor.” Gage said.

“I mean, its 2029 in Prague so-”

Adam was interrupted by Gage audibly gasping.

“It’s- it’s… 2029!? So, you come from a time before me? I’m 2 centuries older than you?! This is crazy!”

“I guess it’s pretty strange. Weirder things have happened to me. But I guess in this situation, you’re my superior. If anything I suggest that we work as a team and try to find some more clues that pertain to our current situation.

 

Gage nodded and started walking. After going a couple feet, he stopped and turned around quickly.

“Wait wait, what? I’m your… superior? Like, boss? I mean, I might be older than you, but you seem to have a lot more knowledge than I do.” Gage said, stumbling over certain words. Sure he was the person next in line to Leon. Leon was the Overboss, and Gage was his right hand man. But having someone call him boss like this felt weird.

“In all honesty Adam… I’d be more comfortable if you took the lead, as I’m not very keen with being a leader.” He said, speaking the truth.

Adam looked at him. “All right. I’ll take the lead for now. If we do meet someone else, then I want you to be our leader.” That was all Adam said before he started walking past Gage. Gage stood there, a bit confused. He thought Adam would force him to be leader. It didn’t feel right being leader, if Leon wasn’t there with him. He missed him. A lot.

 

It would be far too long before the two would meet again.

 

Three days and nights had passed since Adam appointed himself as leader. They hadn’t come across anyone new yet. They hadn’t even seen any other champions. Gage began questioning if anyone had ever come out this far. Adam could see something in the distance. It was yellow goldish color. It wasn’t that big, rather quite small. He could see that it was coming straight at them, and it was moving fast.

 

“Hey, Gage, heads up. Something is coming out way- and it’s moving fast.”

“Wait what?! B-but I don’t have any weapons or anything. I have no magic or what. I’ve only got this gun. If it’s fast, is a gun really going to work?” He asked.

 

It was then that the ground started shaking and they could hear a loud rumbling. Gage got the rifle out, just in case. He loaded it and held it in front of him. That was when he felt something beneath him. He looked down in surprise, but couldn’t see anything. That’s when things started to change for him. Little did he know that there was a crystal right below him. Since Cosmos had contacted him, she imbued within him, the power to draw energy from crystals. After using those crystals for a certain period of time, he would gain the power that the crystal had provided him. There were 50 in total, but there was no way that he could gain all 50. At least not yet.

 

This crystal would offer the power of the Pugilist, or a monk. All of a sudden, he looked at his gun and blinked a few times. He looked over to Adam, and threw the gun over to him. He pulled the gloves that he had on his hands down. He put his arms out in front of him and then clenched his fists. He slid one foot in the dirt and left a line in it. He took a stance and closed his eyes. He focused on where the object that was coming towards them was. He sensed its movement and turned to the right.

 

“Gage! Watch out!” Adam yelled.

Gage suddenly opened his eyes and saw the creature 15 feet away. He quickly lifted his foot up and as the creature came closer, he channeled all of his energy into his foot.  The second before it was about to attack him, he swung his foot, with such great force that Adam could hear the wind coming from it. He paused and lowered his weapon.

“What the hell is happening?” He asked out loud.

Gage’s foot collided with the being and sent it flying the other direction. It flew way above Adam’s head and it was flying fast. It started spinning as it was no longer in control of itself. As it started nearing the ground, Gage started sprinting towards it. His fists were glowing, and he was about to unleash a great attack. As he was getting closer and closer, he put his hands together, and in his palms, two little orbs formed. One was of light and the other one was darkness. As he pushed them together they started to spin around. He was right under the creature. He lifted both hands away from each other and the orbs grew in size. They combined with each other and he put both of his hands above him. The now giant orb, consumed the creature. Once Gage stopped moving, he took a deep breath, and he pushed up. The orb shot an intense beam of darkness and light into the sky and the creature was dragged along with it. Adam began to realize that this must be his soul or something.

 

Gage yelled, and the beam grew even more intense. The creature was torn into pieces and it began to disappear. Once it was gone, Gage let his hands fall to his sides and collapsed. Adam ran over to him and picked him up.

 

“Adam, are you ok?!” Adam yelled, voice full of fear and confusion. He didn’t know if Gage was alive or not, he couldn’t feel a pulse. After a couple seconds passed, he felt Gage start coughing and shaking. He looked at Gage and let out a sigh of relief.

That was the last thing that he would remember for a while. He felt something hit him in the back. It felt sharp. Cold. He blacked out.

 

* * *

 

When he came to, he looked around and all he could see was crystals floating in the distance. They were green. He looked at the ground and he noticed that it was clear. But it also had a green tint to it. He then started developing a very bad feeling inside of him. He heard something behind him, and he could tell it was big. The ground shook as whatever it was landed and he could feel an incredibly strong gust of wind hit him from behind. It knocked him forward a little bit. Once he was able to stand up on two feet, he slowly turned around. What he was facing was something bigger than anything he had ever faced before. Bigger than Marchenko himself.

 

Before him was the legendary King of Dragons, Bahamut.

 

“Oh shit. This is not good!” Adam said before running the opposite direction.

Frantically looking for Gage or anyone for that matter, because he knew that there was no way he could take on this beast all on his own. After running what felt like a great distance, he noticed that there was no ground in front of him. He took one step forward and hit something. There was a barrier there. He was trapped. He realized that this was an area where it had just enough space to hold him and something like the dragon behind him.

Sighing heavily, he turned around and faced Bahamut. He didn’t know whether to pull out a weapon or wait for him to make the first move.

Bahamut launched itself in the air and spun around, unleashing a torrent of green arrows. As the arrows were about to rain down upon Adam, he noticed that he felt strange. As if something were pushing him to fight Bahamut. Trusting this feeling, he pulled out a rifle and took aim. He fired and it Bahamut dead in the wing. He silently cursed when he realized it did almost nothing to him. He began to run to the left. He didn’t know what to do. He always had the Task Force or someone there to direct him. At the moment, he had no one. Or so he thought.

 

As he was running, he saw a bright light shine down from above. He could make out a faint silhouette of a person. He could see that this person had a cape. They seemed to be holding a staff of some sort. They weren’t falling but slowly descending. Bahamut had stopped moving and was watching the person very closely. Once they had reached the floor, Adam could see that it was a man. Clad in golden armor. Very regal looking. He didn’t like the look of him.

“Well well well, look what we have here. A new so called champion. How pitiful is it that you don’t know anything about your situation. And yet, you still tell yourself that you do. Your companion, Gage. He has been here for a little longer than you. Everything that he has told you is true. He has no knowledge of his powers. He is a very special one. I’ll fill you in on what he is able to do. In this world, as you have already found out, there are portals. They are called ‘Torsions’. They are whats sucking up the lifeforce of this world. There is one other thing at work here, but I have no place telling tale of such a mighty beast. So I shall take my leave with a few parting words. You’ve got a special companion with you. But for how long?” the man said. With that, he became enveloped in a dark purple and black aura and then disappeared.

 

Upon his departure, Bahamut looked down at Adam. They made eye contact for what felt like eternity. Bahamut then flew down to him and spoke to Adam.

_‘If it is Gage you’re seeking, I shall help you in finding him. I will lend you my strength. Use it in battle.  After you find him, I ask that you challenge me to a fight. To prove thy strength to me. Best me, and I shall permanently grant you my powers'_

 

* * *

 

As Gage was sprinting around the arena, the three enemies were devising a plan. One of them was going to cast debuffs to hinder his abilities, another one was going to use his Unique EX Skill to buff his own skills and his allies, and the last one was going to trap Gage with their moves.

  
Gage wasn’t stupid though. Throughout his time being here, he had learned many things. One of them is knowing when your enemies are formulating a plan. He could tell that they were plotting something, and that he was going to have trouble dealing with it. However, he knew that he had to do his best to fight back. He didn’t want to lose this fight. He didn’t know what would happen. Would he die? Or would he be revived by some divine spirit? He wasn’t ready to find out so he pulled out a gun and aimed at one of them

 

However, little did anyone in this arena know, that there was yet another crystal deep within the ground. In order for Gage to reach it, he would have to be closer to it than he was now.

 

The first enemy cast a debuff that caused Gage to stop sprinting. He could only run a little bit, not very fast though. They then cast a move that froze him in place, and then they cast another debuff that prolonged the effects of these two things. The second person was charging their EX skill to the max. Once the reached that point, they unleashed it and there was an aura surround him and covering a large radius. It affected his allies and made them stronger. The third person laid traps down for Gage to stumble into when he was freed from his icy prison. They all started closing in on him and one of them punched the ice cage and shattered it. He then kicked Gage and he tripped and landed in the other traps. He took lots of damage and then something caused him to be thrown into the air. He felt nothing. He was lost and confused, and didn’t know what happened. This was until someone jumped up above him and stuck his leg out and kicked Gage in the stomach, and they both shot down at mach speed. Gage grabbed his foot but couldn’t move it. That’s when he felt the ground collide with his back. He was plunged far into the ground. He could feel his skin tearing as the rocks cut him.

 

He didn’t think he was going to make it out of this alive. Until he felt something impaled him. He could feel it’s divine radiance. But, he felt too weak to harness its power. It was then that he learned that the crystals knew when he was in trouble. The crystal turned green and started dissolving. It flowed over Gage and started healing him.

 

This crystal would bestow Gage the power of the Ranger.

 


End file.
